Last night, I wanted to watch something on TV. There was nothing on the many channels I have by satellite, so I looked at my DVD collection. There were movies I could see watching again, but most of them were too long. I didn’t want to start watching some TV series I had already watched, but I finally decided to watch the first episode of The West Wing, a series that I have watched, in its entirety, twice already.

It’s been a couple of years since I watched it the last time. But when I started watching the first episode, I was immediately hooked. Naturally, I know these characters well, and remembered much of what happened, but the quality of Aaron Sorkin’s writing is just so far above most of what is on TV – or in the movies – that it is a pure pleasure to watch it. Even if you’re not interested in the way the US government works, this series is a wonderful study of a number of characters who work together. The acting is exceptional, for most of the main characters, throughout the seven seasons. There is a core group of characters that stay for the entire series, and some that are present for just one season (especially the final season).

In any case, if you haven’t watched The West Wing, you can get the full seven seasons for for $145 from Amazon. It’s a great bargain, for one of the best series that has ever been on network TV.